A month of stuff and nonsense

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I haven’t been blogging much since going back to school. I’d hoped to over the summer, but, uh…yeah, that didn’t happen. And since I’m too busy to do NaNoWriMo again this year, I thought I’d take a stab at doing NaBloPoMo again. That used to be every month for me, but not lately.

*sigh*

So since I’m short of brain power, I’m going to try posting a meme a day. Or maybe just something funny. Because we could all use a bit more levity in our daily lives, am I right?

So here’s today’s bit, in honor of Halloween being over and all my Christmas-loving friends out there:

Don’t forget to follow along with all the other tiny peppers out there at CheerPeppers.com! Happy November!

(c) 2018. All rights reserved.

Conversations I never thought I’d have

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bald eagle head

“You found what? Where?” Photo by Darrell Gough on Pexels.com

As any mom of boys can tell you, you occasionally have some very strange conversations with them. Here’s a recent one I had with my son, Cricket, about something he found in the yard.

Cricket: “Mom! We found a black and white glob of something while we were creature adventuring. You should come and see it.”

My boys love the show Wild Kratts. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s an excellent show all about animals and their habitats. You can learn more about the Kratt brothers here.

Me: “Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”

*thirty seconds later*

Cricket: “Mom, come on! It’s been five minutes already!”

Me: “I’ll. Be. There. In. A. Minute.”

Cricket: *sigh* “Okay.”

*sixty seconds later*

I venture across the yard to where Cricket is sitting, staring intently at a clump of grass. “Okay, Cricket, what’d you find?”

He looks up from the grass. “Well, we found a black and white glob of something while we were creature adventuring, and I don’t even know what the glob is.”

“Where is it?”

Cricket points. “Right here.”

I stoop to inspect the glob. “That’s dry bird poop, honey. At least, I think it’s dry. Don’t touch it.”

Cricket sighs. “I know, I know, don’t touch nature’s stuff.”

I smile. “No, don’t touch poop. Don’t touch bird poop, cat poop, dog poop, bear poop, elephant poop, your poop…any poop. Don’t touch poop!”

What is it with boys and poop? And why is Don’t touch poop a thing that needs saying?

(c) 2018. All rights reserved.

I sing the wind…

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*taps mic*

*glances round*

Hello? Is this thing on?

Oh, good! It’s been far too long, hasn’t it? I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone…um…*checks calendar*…four and a half months without a single post. But school’s out for summer (cue Alice Cooper), and I am ready for the break. And what better way to kick off summer than with a book review?

I’ve read a ton in the last nine months. Some I enjoyed, some not so much, but today I want to talk about Windsinger by A.F.E. Smith. It’s the third book in her Darkhaven series, and it’s been sitting on my phone just begging to be read for an entirely unforgivable length of time. I don’t even know what happened; it arrived last year, but for the first time ever, reading held no joy for me, so in my phone it sat.

What’s it about? Glad you asked!

Ayla Nightshade prepares to meet with the Kardise ambassador to sign a treaty between Mirrorvale and Sol Kardis. However, negotiations are halted as the ambassador is discovered dead in his chambers, poisoned by the same bottle of taransey he and Ayla had shared the night before.

Ayla has been framed for murder and the peace between two kingdoms is at stake. Tomas Caraway and his Helmsmen must rush to prove her innocence before war destroys all they have fought for.

Along the way they discover the plans for a Parovian airship, the Windsinger, which reveal a chamber designed for a special cargo: a living one.

Together Ayla and Tomas set out to uncover their real enemies – a search that will lead them closer to home than they ever anticipated.

If you’ve read the first two books, you won’t want to miss this one, as it brings back a load of interesting characters and throws a whole new set of challenges at them. After slogging through a semester of Milton, this was a refreshing adventure that I couldn’t put down. It was brilliantly well-written, and I loved seeing how Ayla and Tomas’s relationship had grown, how Ayla herself had grown. The love they have for each other is evident, and a joy to see.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is about that love:

‘Anyone can hate,’ Caraway said. ‘It’s love that requires courage.’

But it’s not just about Tomas’s love for Ayla and their children, it’s about love for Mirrorvale as well, and really, it applies to us as well. There is so much hate in the world, and most of it’s senseless, much as in this book. If we can all remember that love is more powerful, and try to show it more in our daily lives, perhaps the world will become the better place we’d all long to see. This book is a wonderful reminder that love can accomplish anything.

In short, if you haven’t read this book, or the others, you definitely should. Pick up a copy at HarperCollins, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or anywhere that fine books are sold, and let me know what you think! After all, nothing cures a book hangover like a great discussion. 🙂

Have you read the Darkhaven novels? What did you think?

(c) 2018. All rights reserved.

On thinking

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I think in other people’s words. I think in movie lines and song lyrics and passages from books. Sometimes, I even think in advertising slogans. Often, I think in sound bytes.

Why?

It’s quite simple, really. Thinking in someone else’s words is so much easier than thinking in my own. Thinking in other people’s words is safer, less painful. It keeps me from having to dig deep, from having to face uncomfortable possibilities.

Thinking in other people’s words keeps me from really getting to know myself. And therein lies the problem.

If I never dig deep enough to find out who I am, do I really exist? If  I think in other people’s words, am I a real person, or simply a copy of a thousand other selves? A clone?

To think in other people’s thoughts is to blend into the background, to be an indistinguishable part of the whole. I contain multitudes, but I don’t stand out from them.

Sometimes it’s necessary to stand out, to stand on one’s own. But by thinking in someone else’s thoughts, I keep myself chained to a pole, unable to stand on my own.

I am a sapling in a biosphere, immune to the wind…until the transparent sphere falls away. Then I will fall, for my roots are shallow and weak.

I think in other people’s thoughts, but I really ought to stop. My own thoughts have value and meaning, and it’s time I recognized that fact. It’s time I came up with a few thoughts of my own.

If I want to leave my mark on the world, I won’t be able to rely on other people’s thoughts.

(c) 2017. All rights reserved.